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14.11.2018

Russelioside-B, a natural fat loss steroid

Twelve years ago, when Hoodia gordonii was still hot, hip & promising, we seriously thought that the supplement industry finally had an effective weight loss supplement in the pipeline. Not so. The Egyptian pharmacologist Essam Abdel-Sattar may have found a worthy replacement. In the cactus Caralluma quadrangula he found a relatively simple steroid-like substance, that shows some remarkable effects in animal studies.

Study
Caralluma quadrangula grows everywhere on the Arabian peninsula. From this plant, the researchers retrieved the steroid-like russelioside B. They mixed this substance through the feed of rats.

If the rats had been human adults, they would have used about 200-300 milligrams of russelioside B [25 mg/kg] or 400-600 milligrams [50 mg/kg] every day. For 16 weeks the animals were given feed with extra calories in the form of fat.

A control group received fat-rich feed without active substances; the animals in a second control group received standard feed without active substances.

Results
In both the relatively low and relatively high dose, russelioside-B inhibited the growth of the fatty layers considerably. The high dose worked better than the low one.

Not surprisingly, russelioside B also inhibited the growth of fat cells. [Figure] The pregnane glycoside protected insulin's effectivity, and limited the rise of HOMA-IR [a measure of insulin resistance].

Mechanism
The researchers suspect that russelioside-B works in more than one way. One of them is that the substance inhibits inflammatory factors such as interleukin 1-beta, interleukin-6 and TNF-alpha.

Another possible mechanism is that russelioside B makes cells consume more energy. Russelioside-B inhibited the reduction of UCP-1 and -2 due to a high-energy diet. UCPs make cells convert more nutrients into energy - in a less efficient way.

Conclusion
"Russelioside B controlled weight gain, improved lipid profile, and ameliorated inflammatory derangement accompanying diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance", write the researchers. "Further, russelioside B modulated adipokine expression and increased expression and protein level of energy expenditure enzymes."

"Therefore, the overall antiobesity action of russelioside B may be, at least partly, attributed to its anti-inflammatory and adipokine modulating activities in addition to it is favorable effect on energy expenditure."

"Future studies are warranted to investigate the pharmacological actions of russelioside B on important organs such as the liver and to fully explore its compensatory mechanisms against the metabolic effects of high fat feeding in rats."

Source:
Front Pharmacol. 2018 Aug 30;9:990.

More:
Withaferin-A counteracts obesity by increasing leptin sensitivity 30.09.2018
Cissus quadrangularis as a herbal weight loss aid: minus 7 kilos in 2 months 08.08.2016
Daily supplementation with 250 mg oleoylethanolamide causes fat loss 30.05.2018

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Small amount of beta-cryptoxanthin reduces fat percentage Daily supplementation with several mgs of beta-cryptoxanthin can help reduce the percentage of fat in the body.	Alpha-linolenic acid-diacylglycerol steps up fat burning People who consumed a couple of grams of alpha linolenic acid-enriched diacylglycerol for a period of two weeks lost almost half a kilogram of body fat.	Olive oil compound hydroxytyrosol lowers fat percentage Olives and olive oil contain probably more potential body recompositioning compounds than oleuropein. Hydroxytyrosol, another substance found in olive oil, has interesting biological effects as well.